Voice Therapy for Teachers With Voice Problems

Inclusion criteria

• Full or part time teacher including college professor, daycare and preschool
• 21 years of age and older
• Complaints of voice problems declared to be lasting continuously for one month or more
• Any structural or functional change to the larynx that appears related to phonation,including bilateral or unilateral lesions (assuming normal overlying epithelium based on clinical examination), non-specific edema, or erythema that appear by clinical history related to phonation, or primary muscle tension dysphonia or other condition related to phonation without lesions
• No concurrent ear, nose and/or throat diagnoses, e.g. acute allergies, except for chronic allergies, sinusitis, and laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPR)
• No vocal fold hemorrhage
• No known degenerative medical conditions (e.g., degenerative neuromuscular disease, malignant process undergoing treatment or with less than 5 years remission, uncontrolled systemic disease (e.g., auto immune disease, or hormonal condition)
• Normal hearing to 30 dB at 1000Hz - 3000Hz in the better ear
• The participant is able to start therapy within 6 weeks of the initial evaluation and can be scheduled for 8 sessions (two per visit) in a 6-week time period
• Agreement by the participant to provide information regarding days missed from work during the previous year and the year following treatment

Exclusion criteria

• Known degenerative medical condition
• Concurrent ear-nose-throat diagnosis, e.g., acute allergies (but chronic allergies, sinusitis, and laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPR) are not exclusion criteria) and vocal fold hemorrhage
• Degenerative medical conditions that would exclude a participant from participation include, but are not limited to: degenerative neuromuscular disease, malignant process undergoing treatment or with less than 5 years remission, uncontrolled systemic disease (e.g. auto immune disease), or hormonal condition.